Today, there are two kinds of music fans: Those who are at Coachella, and those who are not.
But is it the concert package of the year? The jury is out until Sept. 21, which is when the annual All Tomorrow's Parties festival wraps up in New York.
Named after the same Velvet Underground song that William Gibson claimed for the third installment of his Bridge trilogy, the All Tomorrow's Parties festival began in the United Kingdom but has since expanded to encompass installations on either side of the pond.
And this year's New York party happens to be its best ever, rivaling if not outdistancing even Coachella, the three-day music and art festival that runs through Sunday in Indio, California.
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For starters, sonic innovator My Bloody Valentine is both headlining and curating the New York All Tomorrow's Parties this year, putting 2008 Coachella headliners like Jack Johnson, Portishead, Roger Waters, The Verve and Love and Rockets to shame. And while Prince may be Coachella's lone unbeatable live act, music fans have been waiting more than 16 years to see My Bloody Valentine's sublime noise in the flesh. One imagines even the Purple One would eventually submit to the shadow of the band's thunderous return.
this audio or video is no longer available Even better, MBV has brought out some big guns for ATPNYC. The guitar gods of Built to Spill plan to perform their best effort, Perfect From Now On, in its entirety. The unclassifiable Tortoise is set to do the same for its epochal release Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, Steve Albini's Shellac, Meat Puppets, Mogwai, Autolux, Low and many more are already on board. Those are bands that indie fanatics would gladly sweat out in the desert for (while paying a king's ransom for a bottle of water). Good thing they don't have to, as ATPNYC is being held within the more comfortable confines of Kutsher's Country Club.
this audio or video is no longer availableSo pack them in, Coachella, but watch your back, because ATPNYC is standing right behind you, with a leaner festival that nevertheless packs twice the punch. It may take Coachella three days and scores of bands to make the scorching Palm Desert worth its desolate while, but it only takes My Bloody Valentine one day to, with a little help from its friends, make a country club the coolest place on Earth.
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